Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort review by Dealing with Disney

I was fortunate enough to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani DVC resort.

 

FIRST and MOST important fact about this resort: NO BALLOONS ALLOWED.. YOU can’t bring one on the property, they will NOT hold it for you. It is just like Animal Kingdom Park, NO balloons allowed. Make sure to remember this tidbit when tempted at the parks or Disney Springs. DO NOT BUY one!

 

This Disney Deluxe resort is made up of two sides; regular guest section (Jambo) house and DVC section (Kidani Village).

DVC ( Disney Vacation Club), regular guests can also make reservations at these resorts but they do open later for booking. It first opens for DVC members (11 months out) & (around 7 months prior to travel dates) opens for general public guests. Can Usually find a promo rate on these rooms –they are pricier but have suburb room categories-discount helps.

Rooms can start from $450.00 and up! This was our second stay here and it has been one of my family’s favorites. It is not MY favorite (which I have a hard time picking an exact favorite) but it is one of the top picks for me.

 

We stayed in a 2 bedroom suite with a Savannah view. The suite can sleep up to 7 people offering 1 king bedroom, 1 room with 2 queens and a den containing a sleeper sofa. There is a full kitchen(oven, coffee/tea maker, microwave, fridge, sink, garbage disposal, dishwasher, plates and utensils) available (no ice maker though—but they have ice trays and an ice vendor available). 3 full bathrooms are available. Tons of closet space as well!!! The master bath has a large walk in showed and large jacuzzi tub. CLICK ME to see Savannah views

The suite was very spacious. Our Balcony was long, stretching all the way from one bedroom -down to den and covering 2^nd bedroom. It was outstanding & the very best feature of this resort.

I sat on our balcony a good bit during our stay. 

I watched one family talking with one of the animal care givers as she was out doing her animal checks. How awesome is that to be able to get that interaction!

I would primarily recommend this resort and room category if making use of the resort versus attending parks constantly or having a tightly planned trip otherwise your benefits/value of the resort are completely lost.

 

This is an absolute gorgeous resort. I will say the Jambo house lobby is more beautiful than Kidani’s.. The architectural and decor are just over the top gorgeous.

I love all the lanterns adorning the front entry to both houses which holds a special ‘welcoming’ meaning.

Under normal operations:

The resort holds the largest African art collection than any other museum or facility.

Jambo has also completed a resort refurbishment, they did remove the bunk beds that were offered in some room categories.

Kidani has not been refurbished yet.

 

Pre-COVID:

Experiences with cultural experts are available. Make sure to review the current activity sheet at check in or the activity boards for all experiences offered.

They were offering animal beads to collect for each experience completed that could be added to a necklace/bracelet.

Night Tours and Day tours were offered (for an extra fee)

I highly suggest taking any tour you can at Disney, I have experienced many and they were over the top amazing. The Sense of Africa Tour was one of my favorites!!! Click this link to review!

 

The resort itself homes 2 AZA Zoos; one at the resort and one at the Animal Kingdom Park. The one at the resort, the animals are only pulled into their facility housing once a day for 2 hours! They are free to roam 22 hours a day!

 

While staying at the resort, we were able to watch from our savannah room’s balcony the food truck come around, hear animal calls, watch some of their play time and see them nap. We constantly saw animal activity. It was so serene sitting on the balcony observing it all.

 

There is no quick service located at the Kidani village however the Disney store at lodge does offer limited grocery options that can cover needs and since most rooms in this section offer kitchenette or full kitchen-there was no full need for the quick service location. There is however quick service food options located at the bar (Maji Pool bar) next to their pool. They have a pretty good selection there for lunch or dinner needs.

 

Restaurant options:

Jiko-is considered a fine Dining experience (2 dining credits if dining plan returns)

Boma- Buffet / family style African inspired cuisine! -super yummy in my experience (1 dining credit if dining plan returns)

Sanaa – A more casual style dining experience with Indian-African inspired foods. Best dining location to also view the animals (1 dining credit if dining plan returns)

 

Quick Service: The Mara at Jambo House

Offers breakfast, lunch and Dinner options. Limited options however and are African inspired choices. They do have a few standard choices such as flatbread pizza.

 

Room categories:

3 main categories: max guests is 4 for the rooms with queen beds and 2 if King

Standard view; 2 queen or 1 king

Pool View; 2 queen or 1 king

Savannah View; 2 queen or 1 king

 

Club level is also available for Jambo house offering more room options & rooms that can hold more guests.

 

Kidani Village offers from 1 bedroom suites up to 3 bedroom suites providing either same standard, pool or Savannah view.

 

3 pools are available across the entire resort grounds. 2 main (fun) pools with slides and 1 quiet pool. You can enjoy any of the pools when staying at either resort section.

2 hot tubs available at the Kidani Pool. Spacious pools, both offer zero entry. As all Disney pools, towels are available at the pool to use and return baskets also there. Life jackets are readily available as well.

Splash pad area is available at both main pools with mini kiddy slides on them.

 

As majority of their resorts, they offer fitness center access, movie under the stars, daily activities such as movie under the stars. Make sure to check for your activity list upon arrival. (currently many activities have been halted but I expect them to return) Always check!

 

They offer many savannah viewing points throughout the resort which makes it great if you have a standard or pool view—you are still able to really enjoy animal viewing.  This is very advantageous even with a Savannah view. Not all animals are available in each savannah section. One person may have viewing access of zebra, okapi, Ostriches and other animals where another savannah holds Giraffes, buffalo and bulls. Make sure to really look at all the Savannah sections to enjoy all the animals offered for viewing. Information charts are available at the viewing locations to provide fun facts about the animals being observed.

 

Now, this resort is basically the furthest resort away from majority of Disney properties/parks/centers besides The Animal Kingdom Park itself.

That should be factored in when traveling and accounting for travel time. To me, it isn’t a big deal. I have never thought about or concerned myself with transportation lengths. It is what it is. For guests coming in without previous experience, it may be frustrating to realize how long the process can potentially take at times.  The return back to a home resort from a very long/busy day at the parks can seem forever long at times. I just always account for my time in each trip about the same, I use the golden 60-90 minute rule.

 

This resort only relies on Disney Busses for transportation. It is a really nice perk to have the options of Monorail, Boats or Skyliner for sure! Those can spoil a person.

 

I don’t want to express my dealings with the cast members this go around. It was right after the resorts re-opened from the COVID closings. It was definitely not the most “Disney” of my experiences and I will give them the benefit of the doubt that there may have been a large amount of stress going on.